"Pong Baby" provides a nice groove that is both energetic and mellow, a perfect example of what Kurstin calls "space-groove-jazz". Listening to his work on this track as well as "Gamera" on the Fender , you can hear his jazz influences at work. He doesn't jam on these tracks the way a rock musician would, merely playing off the chords in a bluesy way. Instead, he plays with the diminished whole tone scale, something you rarely hear in popular music outside of serious jazz. Greg also builds his solos and puts them together well, again not something you necessarily would expect to hear on a rock or dance music recording.

"No Sleep" is credited to Pamelia Kurstin, and provides a really dreamy groove for Greg and Yogi to jam over. In case you didn't know, Greg's wife Pamelia is an extremely accomplished theramin player (yep, she can play jazz on it). The theramin is like a big electronic box with an antenna and a loop, and the location of the player's hands in relation to the antenna and the loop create changes in pitch and volume level. In fact, the player's entire body can be used to control the pitch and volume of the theramin. It was invented in 1917 by Leon Theramin as a serious instrument, but it was consigned to the novelty bin and generally has only been used to create weird sounds for sci-fi films and as an occaisional guest on rock music recordings (such as the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations"). Pamelia and Greg have done some interesting recording together, I recommend you visit their website for more information. In any case, neither Pamelia nor the theramin appear on "No Sleep", but it is a nice track with an eerily beautiful melody.

Pamelia and her thermin do appear on the track "Green", though. This is another rather mellow and spacey track, with Greg getting Lydian again on the Fender Rhodes. The theramin sound is amazing--you have to ask yourself how in the world Pamelia can possibly control the pitch of this unwieldy instrument the way she does. The trombone/sax horn section is back on this one as well, and they create a really nice, full sound that anchors the track and keeps it from floating off into space, which it threatens to do in a brief dub-section meltdown.

We come back to Earth rapidly on "The Clapper" a trio piece that very clearly calls to mind the Ramsey Lewis trio of the 1960s in its soul-jazz groove with elements of gospel a la "The In Crowd" or "Wade In The Water". Pamelia handles acoustic bass here while Yuvai Gabay (formerly of the band Soul Coughing) does the drum chores. This and the modal trio track "Flow" (featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea and drummer Gary Novak) bring the album to a conclusion that will please any jazz fan.

Some will no doubt wonder whether this album really is a jazz recording and whether Kurstin can be considered a true jazz musician. I don't think that Greg Kurstin will bother to spend much time thinking about how listeners will answer either question. He's much too busy making music in whatever style interests him at any given moment. Whether playing alt-rock with his newfound friends, jamming with jazz greats, or forging new frontiers with his wife, I think we're going to be hearing a lot of Greg Kurstin for some time to come. Some of what he does will probably fall into the broader jazz category, some won't. I, for one, don't really care all that much, as long as he continues to display the same kind of interest and care in what he's doing that is evident on Action Figure Party.